Silicon Valley’s tech scene still trumps New York

On the same day in April, four different New York startups all announced funding rounds of more than $25 million — the latest in a sweep of big financing rounds providing proof the Silicon Alley is heating up.

But New York’s tech scene has yet to produce a breakout hit, or live up to the big ambitions of city officials who proclaimed New York the next hotbed for innovation and poured millions into making it one.

One particular area where New York still lags significantly behind the Valley: venture funding.

According to a data analysis by the firm CB Insights, Silicon Valley technology startups have raised more than 55 percent more money per round on average over the past four quarters.

In seed and Series A rounds, Silicon Valley startups raised $2.5 million to New York’s $2 million (a difference of 25 percent). The funding gap only increases in later stages of funding. In late-stage companies, Silicon Valley startups raised a median of $22 million to New York’s $13.3 million.

CB Insights also compared similar companies and found that in all but one case the Silicon Valley startup raised more. For example, SpoonRocket, the South of Market food delivery startup raised $11 million in its recent Series A, compared to the $5 million of New York’s Plated. One King’s Lane recently raised a $112 million Series E; its competitor ideeli raised $12 million.

The funding discrepancy could point to a trend toward riskier investments among Silicon Valley investors. Or it could just mean New York’s tech scene has yet to mature — as CB Insights points out, even five years ago “New York was a virtual non-entity in venture.”

For now, though, Silicon Valley’s reputation as the epicenter of the venture capital world seems in no danger of migrating east.